The present disclosure relates to equipment used in the production of hydrocarbons and, more particularly, to systems for simultaneously injecting and producing in a well having multiple zones of interest.
In the oil and gas industry, wellbores are often drilled through multiple subterranean formations, thereby resulting in the establishment of several production zones at various locations along the well. In order to obtain maximum productivity from a single well, fluids are often injected into the surrounding subterranean formations at strategic locations and used to push or otherwise impel hydrocarbons toward a particular production zone for production to the surface.
Known downhole equipment and tools are generally limited to the production of fluid or the injection of fluid at any given time, with simultaneous production and injection not being possible, or at least difficult. More particularly, fluid injection operations are usually carried out first in the wellbore and the injection equipment is subsequently returned to the surface so that appropriate production equipment can then be extended downhole and used to produce fluids to the surface.
In order to increase efficiency, it may be desirable to produce formation fluids from one or more zones, while simultaneously injecting fluids into one or more other zones.